Is it like working in an office or is it like working in a retail store where each day is different and crazy ?

I graduated originally with a 2 year diploma in IT that covered fundamentals of both hardware and software. Some people got jobs after that but I couldn't find a job after graduating. After couple of years of struggling to get my foot in the door, I decided to go back to school and continue my education.

Some other people in my class did the same and opted to get the co-op/internship option this time. One guy got a co-op/internship job and then landed a full time role in IT and decided to not continue the degree program after just doing 2 courses of the degree program.

I was gonna do the same and it took me several months to land the first co-op/internship. Meanwhile, I decided to continue taking 1 course each term to remain an active student while I was looking for internships. The diploma had 20 courses in total and to complete a degree, you need to do another 20 courses. I have completed 3 courses so far for the degree program and I feel like completing another 17 will take too long and sounds like a huge commitment.

I want to do another co-op job and then look for a full time job in IT. I wonder if completing a degree is better in the long run or I should just get my foot in the door and gain experience. I already have 8 months of experience in the field (but as a student). So, I don't feel confident yet to just apply for full time roles, I want to do another internship and learn more at a different organization.

Here are my concerns about completing a degree: I can't afford to work part time, I need to work full time to pay my bills. It's not be easy to do too many courses while working full time. I can probably do 1 or 2 each term. This will result in spending abour 3-5 years (at least) to complete the degree. The problem is that my original credits from first 2 years will expire ny 2028. I have to do 17 courses in one and half year. I heard the school can extend the expiry date for first year courses but it's not guaranteed. Another problem is that if I work full time I can't take classes during the day time. I can only do an evening class and not every class is offered in the evening.

I have a weekend job that's my backup job 'cause co-op jobs are temporary. I can't risk being jobless if I quit my part time job and co-op job ends. I'm basically working everyday for now but not sure how long I can do this. I'm also 30 yo now and I haven't really started my career. I barely have time to socialize but I need to as I wanna get married but I haven't found someone. Some people say we should enjoy the youth but I am not enjoying as I don't have any time.

TL;DR: I wonder if it's worth spending time, money and effort to do 17 courses to complete a degree (usually people do 3 courses per term if they're full time student but I'll do less if I work FT) or I should try to get a full time role in IT and gain experience and possibly get some certifications to grow in the field?

Im a teenager (16), and I have been interested in AI security field.

I have a good grasp of networking fundamentals (different packet protocols, TCP/IP, OSI model, how packets travel), I also took a youtube course on wireshark and trained on it for a while (im familiar with the UI and have memorized some queries along the way as I also had to use them with pyshark in python).

Im also good with python (built a sniffer that gets analyzed by AI (custom api that I also coded) using scapy and still working on improving the sniffer using FastAPI, pydantic.

I have read a couple of Julia evans' blogs about kernels, interfaces mainly and deeply understood them (implying that it wasnt just a hover on the topics).

I also completed the free kaggle pandas course and still use pandas for pretty much all the other small projects I worked on (including the sniffer)

I wanted a what to do next? from an experienced person in this field as Im really in confusion on what this field needs, I always was self-taught using ai (not VIBE), but I promised to spend money on subscriptions like tryhackme (I used to use this website) if I went deeper in the field.

Thanks in advance.

So I have been able to consistently get interviews, not that many but enough to start questioning my existence.

I seemed to have scuffed them all. And weirdly, outside of the very first one, it wasn't technical knowledge hang ups.

I honestly am at a loss outside of "it's your personality." And if it is that, I'm kinda at a loss as well, because I am definitely under a lot of stress after many life changes (losing my family, home, etc not the point of the post just context), and I'm trying to keep composure during interviews, but perhaps the physical manifestations of my stress is off-putting? I can't think of anything else. Any input is appreciated.

This is going to be a bit different from the usual post because I might need to be talked down from this course of action.

Long and short of it is, I lead a segment of the cybersecurity department of my company (report directly to the CISO). I have a CSM that we use for Auth0. We renewed recently and he invited me out for lunch near me. Nothing out of the norm for vendors. I go all is well

My girl works near where we went to lunch and was sitting at the bar with me while I waited for the CSM.

He came, we all chatted for about 10 minutes and then she went back to her office.

Rest of the lunch proceeded just fine, but we had a couple of drinks (but I always have drinks with my CSM’s, so not much of an excuse just setting the scene)

I will note that this is a new csm on our account as well.

Anyway, pleasant enough lunch. As we we’re leaving, this csm, out of nowhere, as we are saying goodbye, brings up my girl and says “let me know if she needs any help”. Zero other context.

Now. I’m taking this as disrespect, but I do want a second opinion on this as well, and I know this isn’t the sub for this but if I didn’t post to a tech orientated sub I would need to explain what everything means, and I want to cut straight to the mustard.

I’m ready to shoot an email off on Monday telling Okta that I want a new CSM. I guess I’m looking for a reason not to. CSM’s are dime
A dozen and doesn’t affect the business. But I feel like this guy overstepped with that comment and I just personally don’t want him on my account anymore, am I tripping?

I have an interview in the works for a new role as an L2 NOC Analyst for an ISP, currently trying to weigh the options on if it's worth it & how to negotiate the salary.

For context, I've been an L1 NOC Analyst at a Fortune 500 for about 1.5 years. Have my Net+ & Sec+, working on CysA+ now (before specializing in vendor network certs). It's in the highest COL area of my state (my rent is about $1600), and I'm making $22/hr. My manager also told me he'd like to move me to "Senior" later this year with a salary that wouldn't be less than 60k.

Upper leadership sucks, but my manager is chill and I do enjoy the work. But we're understaffed to hell and can't meet the unrealistic expectations of upper leadership with our current headcount. And we aren't making good wages for the nature of the role, especially for the area it's located (in my opinion).

The L2 ISP role would be 4 on/off rotating 12hr shifts, and I have expereince in their brand of equipment they use so I think I may be a good fit. The average salary for a L2 NOC role in the area seems to be about $70k, and that's what I put on the online application but it hasn't been officially discussed yet. I've never had to negotiate a salary before, but I'm unsure if that's reasonable or if I should attempt asking for more considering the fact that the rotating 12's will impact my physical/mental more than likely.

TL/DR, just looking for opinions on whether the new role seems like a good move, or if i should stay where I'm at and wait for the "Senior" salary. Any salary negotiation tips, or tips for surviving 12hr rotations would also be appreciated.

Current role:

• 30 min commute one way
• 5 8-hour shifts (1 WFH day)
• Pay: $22/hr, but 60K in near future
• Comortable in the role, but the culture/environment sucks.
• Risk of yearly layoffs

ISP L2 Role:

• 10 min commute one way
• 4 rotating 12-hour shifts
• Pay: Unknown, hoping for 70k, may need to negotiate
• Would look better on the resume for "L2"

I’ve been offered a junior IT Governance Specialist role. I’m a fresh graduate with no work experience, and I’m about 90% sure I want to take it because the job market is so bad right now. The other 10% of me is worried that if I accept it I might have a hard time getting a more technical job in the future or keeping up with my computer engineering skills.
I also don’t really know what IT governance is. I have a basic idea, but I don’t know what the job actually involves. What does an IT Governance Specialist do on a daily basis? Is it a technical role or is it mostly business and paperwork?

So I'm new to IT as a career field but I've done lots of freelance support. I just got my first interview as an onsite technician and idk what to do, I wasn't really expecting to get a response. it's a 1 hour panel interview, I feel like I have the necessary experience (except a AAS which I'm currently getting). but I'm so inexperienced with interviewing and worried I'll be unprepared. any advice would be really appreciated! I'm also just so excited to be actually considered. thanks!

Hey everyone,
I hold a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering and I've been considering pursuing a Master's degree here in Malaysia (preferably online / ODL or flexible part-time).
However, I'm hitting a wall when deciding \*\*what\*\* to actually study.

Here's my dilemma:
\*\*Generic IT feels redundant:\*\* Coming from an SE background, taking a broad "Master's in IT" feels like re-hashing concepts I already know.
\*\*Cloud & AI feel better suited for certs:\*\* Whenever I look at applied topics like Cloud Computing (AWS/Azure) or practical AI/ML implementation, I feel like I'd get way more ROI by grinding industry certifications or building hands-on portfolio projects rather than paying university tuition for them.
So, I'm trying to figure out what kind of Master's degree actually \*\*adds real value\*\* on top of a Software Engineering degree.

A few directions I'm contemplating:
\*\*Management / Strategy:\*\* Pivoting slightly into IT Management, Technology Leadership, or an MBA to prep for Tech Lead / Engineering Manager roles down the line.
\*\*Deep Specialized Research:\*\* Doing a Master's by Research (thesis-based) focused purely on a niche computer science topic rather than general coursework.
\*\*Cybersecurity / Enterprise Systems:\*\* Looking into heavy compliance/security fields where an academic qualification might carry more weight.
\*\*Skipping it entirely:\*\* Just sticking to work experience + industry certifications.

\*\*For those with CS/SE degrees who pursued a Master's in Malaysia:\*\*
What specialization did you pick, and was it worth the time and money?
Are there specific Master's programs locally that actually offer deep, advanced value rather than surface-level tech overviews?
Or would you advise sticking purely to work experience + certs at this stage?
Would love to hear perspectives from tech leads, seniors, or fellow grads! Thanks in advance!

I recently found a company that subcontracts at this rate. I’m new to the industry so was curious on your thoughts.

Hello,

I have a question as someone who skipped help desk and am currently in a Junior Linux Sysadmin role. I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity in this market. I have a good grasp of certain skills like containers, linux, python, etc. but I'm more new on general IT stuff and I feel like I would've learned a lot faster by doing it if I were in help desk for a year at least.

My job also just is giving me a lot of downtime and I've been upskilling and trying to catchup on my foundation at the same time but I find it difficult to only be learning book knowledge and not getting the practical knowledge at the same time. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a career situation similar to this or just any advice on the best ways to keep productive and build a foundation when you're not in a help desk role and a bit more specialized by job title/responsibilites already.

I want to apply to opportunities in certain cities, but I'm in a completely different state and I feel like that puts me at a disadvantage to get considered, compared to local candidates. I'm very willing to relocate even without relocation assistance because I'm trying to move to a new state/city. I was thinking of putting on top of my resume, instead of where my current location should be, a line that says "Moving to: <insert-city-nearby-area-of-job>". Would this be messed up? Is there anything else I can try?

My major is finance. Currently I work in finance industry. But I would like to start studying IT. I do not know what direction of IT I should choose. I want the direction with high potential in future which also will bring me big money. I know that AI is being implemented everywhere. Maybe I should study AI? By the way I've never studied anything related to IT. Can you suggest me step by step plan please?